Power-operated discharge mechanism for concrete-mixers



' c. E. FOOTE. POWER OPERATED DISCHARGE MECHANISM FOR CONCRETE MIXERS.

APPLICATION FILED on. 1, 1920.

' Patented Oct. 18, 1921.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

"$111M 1mm (*hple; El -wa e,

C. E. FOOTE. POWER OPERATED DISCHARGE MECHANISM FOR CONCRETE MIXERS.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 1, I920.

Patented Oct. 18, 1921.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2- lizaenfor:

Ch lea E to provide a discharge mechanismthat is- UNITED srn'rris PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES :a room, or NUNDA, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR 'ro THE noo'rncoMnAN'Y, on

v NUNDA, new YORK, A'conronarron on N W YORK.

rownn ornnarnn DISCHARGE mnon'anrsm iron CONCRETE-MIXEBS.

Specificatidn of Letters Patent.

PatentedOct. 1 1921;

Application filed October 1, 1920. Serial No. 414,066.

To all whom it may concern: I

Be it'known that 1, CHARLES E. Foo'rn, a citizen of the United States, residing at Nunda, in the county of Livingston and State of'New York, have'Jinventedc-ertain new and useful Improvements in Power Operated Discharge Mechanism for Concrete-Mixers, of 'which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a new and usefulimprovement in power operated discharge mechanism for concrete mlxers and has for an ob]ec't to provide a device that is extremely simple in constructionand exceed ingly efficient in operation. In a separate application filed of even date herewith bearing Serial No. 414,065 I have shown the operating mechanism in conjunction with a rotatable discharge chute that is wherein theinnerendof the chute is swung laterally of the drumwof the mixer to its operative and inoperative positions while'inthe present application a pivotal chute adapted to be swung into and out of the drum of the mixer is provided, so that when the chute is swungoutwardly of the drum of the mixer it will be in its inoperative position, and when swunginwardly of the drum of the mixer it"is-in'a position to catch the falling materials and discharge the mixer.

' As is'well known to those familiar with the art, extraneous-means have to be provided for discharging the mixer which is generally some form of chute, that-is where the drum is not tiltable', and this means is generally operated manually and necessitates qulte some effort on the part of the operator.

An object of my invention therefore is operated wholly by power derived from the engine of the mixer, it being simply neces- 'sary to move or operate a hand le'ver,'thereby bringingcertain parts into cooperation with a constantly revolving gear which will automatically swing the discharge chute outwardly to its inoperative position or will swing the chute inwardly and upwardly of the drum of the mixer to its operative or discharging position. I

1 Still another object of my invention is to provide a chute that is supported at one end by a yoke that is provided with slots therein through which passes anoifset bar,

to which bar is connected a rack that is thrown into contact with a gear so that when the rack is elevated the forward end of the chute will be elevated and on a lower- 111g of the rack the chute will be swung inwardly to its discharging position.

With these and numerous other objects in view, my invention consists in certain new and novel constructions and combinations of parts as will be hereinafter morefully described and pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings showing a preferred form of my invention:

Figure l is a .front view of a portion of a mixer and the -:power operated discharge mechanism, the chute being shown in its operative or discharging position;

Fig. 2is aside elevation, showing a portion ofthe'mixer, the discharge chute and supporting yoke also being shown in dotted lines swung to its inoperative position;

Fig. 3 is a similar view after the parts have been moved to swing the chuteto its inoperative position: and

Fig. 4 is a sectional view of the yoke, a portion of the'drum of the mixer, and a portion of the discharge'chute.

It might be here mentioned that only that much of the mixer is shown as thought necessary to illustrate the location and operation of the discharge mechanism.

Referring now more in detail to the several figures there is shown a supporting beam 1, two standards or uprights 2, a top beam 3,"a cross plate 4, anda mixing drum 5 supported on the usual rollers 6. The drum is provided with the usual ring gear 7, to be drivenby another gear? that is mounted on the stub shaft 8 which shaft is mounted in asuitable bearing 8. The main gear 9 that operates the discharge chute as will be shortly described.

On the cross plate 4 are formed the bearings 10 in which i's mounted the pintle 11 and secured to this pintle is the support or yoke 12 in which is secured the forward end of the dischargechute l3. I

This chute when swung in or as shown in Figs. 1 and 2 will catch at taaaaamat rial as it fallsfrom near 611641201) of the, revolving drum and discharge the same,

while ii the chuteis swung outwardly as shown by the dotted lines (Fig 2) the maiterial will continue to r i se mar-sum the I drum and of course not coming into conenlarged portions 14 in which are provided tact with the chute will-be mixed 'until'the" chute is again swung inwardly; r

Referring now to the mechanism and manner of swinging this chute,; it. will be not ced that. the yoke 12 is. provided with the theslots v15. V

V ,Mounted in the bearings- 16 on the plate 1 is the rod 17 :whichis provided with the oil-set {portion 18, the offset portion extend ingthrough the aforementioned slots 15. A further bearinglf). secured tothe upright ;2 furthensupports this rod '17 and: on the end of; the rod isshownthe arm 20. r

Pivotally secured to the outer end of this arm 20 is the short connectingTodQl which 'ispivotally' fastened at its lower ;endito, the lug 22 formed. at: the upper end of a] Yrack23.

This gear rack is provided with the sets 'ofteethf24 and 25 which are disposedon the opposite sides'of the rack and in staggered relation to each other, there being suf.-

" ficient roolnbetween the t'eeth'25..and the onlthe vertically extending slide bar 27 top-of the rack and between the teeth 24 and {the bottom ofthe rack; to permitrthe gear to revolve freely when the rack is in-its either-extreme position.

On the-one side of the rack 23 is the pivotalclamp 26' which is slidinglv mounted which is slightly bent as at 128 and issecured at its upper end to the arm 29 of the operating lever 30 that is mounted inthe bracket 31 on the upright'2.

The lower-end of the slide bar Q'lis pivoted toY thelink 32 that in. turn is pivoted to; the lug 33 fastened on the beam 1. (By

pivoting this lower end of the slide bar to the. link as shown the gear will be held in proper mesh with the teeth on the rack when the operatinglever-is manipulated. It is to be notedthatthe rack is of such length and the'number of teeth .is such that fa movement of the rack from its one limit to the other caused by the revolution of the gear '9 will just swing the chute from its operative to its inoperative positionor vice versa. 7

and it. is desired to discharge the same. The several parts will be in the position as shown in Fig. 3.- A pull-of the operating lever 30 ,rearwardly'willlforce the slide bar and rack,

slightlv upwardly and inwardly so that the teeth 25- will me'sh with the gear 9 which x The operation is simpleand is as fol-- flows: V i i V Supposing that the mixer isin operation,

' that is material is being mixed in the drum will force the rack downwardly, which in turn pulls the arm2Q downwardly, the arnr revolving th'e'rodil'l' andol'lset portion'18: which is within "the slots 15, thus pulling in the yoke 12,,andpthe' chute 13 sothat'the chute extends up into the "drum and be heath the tumbling mixture which as it falls in the chute will be discharged by gravity' .;from:.the':same. 1,

' .To' return the chute to itsinoperative posi tion the operatinglever 30 is pushed for-V wardly-aga-inso' that theother set 0f teeth 3 24 will engage" the gear 9, when the rack will againbe raised and through its connections with therodil'? the yoke will be .forced outwardly swinging the chute to 1 its, inopera tiv-e positionizy i I V i I Fromthe foregoing it will be seen that I have provided a means for operating by power a discharge chute that may be quickly swung to 'anjoperative or inoperative position as desired, it taking but little effort on thepartvof the operator, necessitating in factonly the operationxof a handle, on lever. is

It is to be understood that changes might be madein the: way the chute is pivotedor the arrangements-of the different parts with-' Having thus described my invention, what out in any way departing from thespirit and scope o tthe invention.

I claimY'as-new and desire to securebyLet ters Patentisz-w 1. 'A- powerIoperated 'discharge mecha- .nism for concrete mixers comprising: a disfor concrete mixers comprising a discharge chute, sw ngin'glyj mounted, a revolving 7 gear, a ra'ck'coiiperating withsaid rotating gear,rmeans for moving the rack so that the said gear will be in mesh .with the teeth on one side of the rack to elevatethe rack and to swing'the inner end of the chute'downwardly-and outwardly of the mixer to its inoperative position and for moving the rack so that the said gear will mesh on the opposite side thereof to thereby; lower the rack, and swing the inner end of the chute 'up wardly and inwardly ofthe drum to its operativeposition. .1 V 3. A power operated discharge mechanism for concrete mixers comprising a discharge chute, a pivotally mounted yoke supporting said chuteysaid yoke provided with a slot, a rod provided with-anoffset portion extend- V I 110 1 2.- A power operated discharge mechanisms a ing through said slot, a continuously revolving gear, a rack normally out of contact with said gear, a lever connected to said rod and to said rack and means for forcing the rack into contact with said gear to thereby swing the chute to either its operative or inoperative position.

4. A power operated discharge mechanism for concrete mixers comprising a discharge chute extending up within the drum of the mixer, a pivotally mounted yoke supporting said discharge chute, said yoke provided with slots near its upper ends, a rod mounted at the side of the chute said rod provided with an offset portion extending through the slots in the yoke, an arm mounted at the end of said rod, a continuously revolving gear, a sliding gear rack connected to said arm and provided with sets of teeth on its opposite sides, means for forcing the teeth on one side of the rack into contact with the said gear to thereby elevate the rack and swing the yoke and chute to its inoperative position and to force the other set of teeth into contact with said gear to lower the rack and swing the chute to its operative position.

5. A power operated discharge mechanism for concrete mixers comprising a discharge chute, supported at one end and extending within the drum of the mixer, a rotatable gear, a rack, an arm connected to said chute, means for forcing the rack into cooperation with said gear to raise the rack and said arm to thereby swing said chute outwardly to its inoperative position and to lower said rack to swing the chute inwardly and upwardly of said drum to its operative position.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

CHARLES E. FOOTE. 

